The Israeli occupation's closure of the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side for the third week in a row led to some food supplies spoiling under the sun in Egypt, waiting to enter Gaza at a time when hunger is worsening in the Strip.

The Rafah crossing played a major role in bringing in humanitarian relief and some commercial supplies before Israel intensified its military attack on the Palestinian side of the crossing on May 6 and took control of it.

Egyptian officials and sources stressed that military activity endangers humanitarian operations, and that Israel must return the crossing to the Palestinians before it begins operating again.

Yesterday, Friday, the Egyptian presidency announced that Cairo and Washington had agreed to bring aid through the Kerem Shalom crossing, until legal arrangements are made to reopen the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side.

Driver Mahmoud Hussein said that the goods were loaded onto his truck a month ago and gradually began to spoil under the sun. Some food items were disposed of and some were sold at a low price.

He continued, as he sat taking shelter in the shade of the truck, that the spoilage affected quantities of “apples, bananas, poultry, and cheese, so some of these materials are sold for a quarter of their price before their expiration date, and quantities that were completely spoiled were disposed of.”

Relief officials say that the flow of aid is often slowed by Israeli inspections and military activity inside Gaza, and that the amounts reaching the Strip's 2.3 million residents are far below their needs.

While the World Food Program warned of an imminent famine in areas of Gaza.

Since May 7, no trucks have passed through the Rafah crossing, and very few trucks have crossed the Israeli Kerem Shalom crossing, according to UN data. Since then, only a little more than 900 trucks carrying aid have entered the Gaza Strip, compared to at least 500 trucks per day that the United Nations says is needed.

Khaled Zayed, head of the Egyptian Red Crescent Society in Sinai, said that the volume of aid waiting to cross into North Sinai in Egypt has now become very large, and some of it has been waiting for more than two months.

Abdullah Al-Rabiah, general supervisor of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, a charity funded by Saudi Arabia, said that the center had more than 350 trucks loaded with materials, including food and medical supplies, waiting to pass through Rafah, but it was forced to unload the flour for fear of it rotting.

He continued that they are shipping and sending aid and they must follow up, describing this as a huge burden.

Local officials from the Egyptian Ministry of Supply said that some food items were sold at low prices in the local market in North Sinai, which led to the confiscation of quantities of rotten eggs.

Inside Gaza, there were also concerns about the quality of food that was delivered after waiting periods and passed through before the closure of the Rafah crossing or through other crossings.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the government media office in Gaza, said that Palestinian health officials and police who used to inspect goods coming into Gaza were unable to do so during the Israeli attack.

He added: "There is a big problem that many of the goods entering the Gaza Strip are unfit for human use and are unhealthy. Therefore, the Ministry of Health issued this warning with the aim of educating citizens about the necessity of examining goods or materials before eating them and distributing them to family members."